Thursday, September 28, 2017

After a couple of years in hiding, Denmark’s
speed/heavy metal juggernaut Encyrcle has returned with a new EP. Anyone salivating at
the thought of a new album from this band might be disappointed to hear
that it has just 3 full-length tracks, and 1 of them is a cover. Nevertheless,
this is a perfect dosage that allows Encyrcle to demonstrate exactly what they’re
about to both newcomers and fans who have been around since the debut.
Interestingly, the record opens with an uncharacteristically positive melody,
showing the band’s eclectic set of influences. Though they are fairly
comfortable in the speed/heavy pocket, Encyrcle is much more than just a
souped-up Iron Maiden or Judas Priest.

One of the defining characteristics of the
band is their wailing singer. In the grand scheme of this style of music, he
isn’t particular impressive. Encyrcle’s vocalist doesn’t hit notes that are in
the stratosphere, nor does he even hold a pitch for very long. Many of his
lines waver somewhat uncontrollably. For many bands this would be a deal breaker,
but Encyrcle makes it work by creating an otherworldly feel to some of their
music. Sometimes they wander on and on, allowing the guitars to float around
with some different melodies or riffs. Where they’re going isn’t clear, but
they always arrive somewhere interesting.

It is this unique mix of sounds that is
likely to make or break “Burning Child” for you. If, like me, you prefer things
to be a bit more traditional, more predictable, and based around obvious hooks,
then Encyrcle is unlikely to capture your attention. But the band deserves
credit for taking a heavy metal sound and twisting it on its side just
slightly. Surely, “Burning Child” will get better with repeated listening, as
the music becomes easier to follow and the subtleties will be clearer. No
matter your personal preference or traditional heavy metal, “Burning Child” is
well worth a few spins as a breath of fresh air.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

It’s impressive that after so many years
and now a string of successful albums, US death metal group Cannabis Corpse
continues to be hilarious. “Left Hand Pass” is their most recent effort of
authentic old-school death metal odes to drugs, and picks up where the last two
records left off. The band’s musical success is largely because of their
adherence to a strict formula of worshipping bands in both name and sound.
Cannibal Corpse is still the primarily point of reference musically; despite
name drops to groups like Bolt Thrower, Entombed, and Monstrosity, it is the
original Cannibal Corpse that is the most comparable band.

Cannabis Corpse has an uncanny ability to
interweave huge grooves (with a definite Paul Mazurkiewicz influence in the
drumming) with more traditional, breakneck death metal riffs. The band also
tends to incorporate small amounts of dissonance in their riffing, to create a
slightly more technical feel to the music. This is obviously a far cry from
even the older technical death metal bands like Atheist, but does separate
Cannabis Corpse from the crowd slightly.

Relative to some of the band’s past work,
it feels like the bass playing has taken somewhat of a backseat. It does make
sense, as the previous album, “From Wisdom to Baked”, marked Landphil’s first
time doing vocals for the band. Truthfully, loud heavy bass isn’t a requirement
for this type of music, and it only feels expected because Cannibal Corpse uses
it so effectively. Nevertheless, it is still there, and doesn’t detract from
any of the songs.

From a production standpoint, “Left Hand
Pass” is what all death metal bands should strive for. It’s clean enough to the
point that it doesn’t sound like it was recorded in a shed with tin can drums,
but also muddy enough to reflect the downtuned, aggressive bite of the guitars.
It helps that the music doesn’t consist of constant blast beats, as this gives
the band much more room to play around with this sound. In fact, there are some
moments where a thrashier drumming approach creates a significantly different
feel, hearkening back to the truly early death metal groups (think 1987-1989 or
so). “Chronic Breed” is the unquestionable standout for its thrash influence,
but this sound pops up elsewhere on the record.

There aren’t many necessary points of improvement
for Cannabis Corpse. Few bands have such an exceptional understanding of why
death metal used to be amazing. Though “Left Hand Pass” doesn’t have the
songwriting chops of previous works like “Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise”,
it is nonetheless an impressive offering of death metal. The real question is
how many more brilliant song titles can the band come up with?

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Throughout the history of heavy metal,
there have been a handful of bands that found names that perfectly suited their
music. The most obvious example would be Metallica, simply for their quality
and status as metal titans. However, Sweden’s Metalite is certainly another apt
choice. Put simply, this band is metal “lite”, to the point where it is
questionable if it is metal at all. Rather than the gloriously cheesy approach
of Power Quest or Freedom Call, Metalite’s tendencies are far more
pop-inspired. If you took away the semi-crunchy guitars, there would be almost
no metal in their sound at all. Actual riffs are in short supply. Nearly every
song is a savory sweet sing-along anthem that is overflowing with sugary
melodies, delivered via twin guitars or the angelic vocals of lead singer Emma
Bensing. There isn’t a lot of variety, with most songs having the same runtime
and general sound.

These comments all sound like criticisms,
but they really aren’t. They’re more of a warning for what you’re getting into
with Metalite. Truthfully, the band is very adept at what they do. Even if the
band isn’t rocking hard at every moment, they’re always building to a chorus
that explodes with enthusiasm. Many tracks have huge keyboard melodies with
driving rhythm guitars underneath before letting the singer do her thing. Her
voice is most similar to any number of singers for similar pop metal bands. She
certainly doesn’t have the range of even level of expression as Tarja or Floor
from Nightwish, for example (ironically, it’s arguable that all of these bands
can be traced back to Nightwish).

The very things that define Metalite are
also part of the reason why they don’t reach their full potential. Make no
mistake, tracks like “Afterlife” and “Nightmare” are some rocking tunes, but
the band’s unwillingness to add any more metal elements to their sound holds
them back. If each song had mind-blowingly technical solos that could compete
with modern power metal bands, higher average speeds, and more
riffs, they would capture the power metal audience. Instead, their choices
leave them solely with the pop side of metal, but more importantly, these
choices also make the band feel very safe and reserved. “Heroes In Time” lacks
any elements of surprise, and once you’ve heard one song, you’ve heard them
all. Ultimately, this means that while this is an enjoyable record, it is
unlikely to be one that you’ll reach for time and time again.